Teenage Dream
by eravicis
Summary: Katie "Pidge" Holt was surprised when she got an invitation in the mail from an ex-boyfriend to his wedding. Without a date, she scoped out her potential suckers for one and unfortunately, had ended with her lying and how she had gotten back together with Keith Kogane, her first ex-boyfriend. Now, they're stuck together in a lie and have to fake their way through a wedding.


**SUMMARY.**

Katie "Pidge" Holt, at the tender age of twenty-one, was surprised when she got an invitation in the mail from an ex-boyfriend to his wedding. Without a date, she scoped out her potential suckers for one and unfortunately, had ended with her lying and how she had gotten back together with Keith Kogane, her first ex-boyfriend. Now, they're stuck together in a lie and have to fake their way through the wedding as the couple that they haven't been since high school, five years ago.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**.

Childhood friends + first loves + ex-lovers + fake dating + FWB + Sharing a single Bed = 3. All names are fictional and I'm literally just making things up as I go. Any triggers or tags necessary that will occur in each chapter will be placed in the notes as to avoid spoilers.

Don't worry, this is a fun fic with sprinkles of angst, drama, and the stupid pining we all know and love.

Dedicated to all of my loyal fans/readers of my kidge fics and for Nary for both encouraging me and beta'ing this specific fic. Without you, I wouldn't have written this at all.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter One: Invitation**

_ You think I'm pretty _ _  
_ _ Without any make-up on _ _  
_ _ You think I'm funny _ _  
_ _ When I tell the punchline wrong _ _  
_ _ I know you get me _ _  
_ _ So I'll let my walls come down, down _  
—Katy Perry, Teenage Dream

The pastel pink envelope itself held no malice, no threats, and no genuine ill-intent. It was supposed to be friendly, happy, and just generally good news. But, it was the words on the inside that sparked her anger. It that mocked her, insulted her and ridiculed her for failing at life even though she was only twenty-one. She couldn't stop the twitching of her brow in annoyance.

Her ex-boyfriend, Ethan Thomas, had sent her a wedding invitation to _his_ wedding. Her chest burned with petty jealousy and irrational anger that she had to take a deep breath to calm herself from literally ripping the pretty paper in half. Leave it to her to ruminate about her relationship for this right before bed.

At one point, she thought that marriage would be a possibility with him, but that was before she had found out that he started to feel neglected in his relationship with her. He claimed that she didn't love him as much as he loved her since she had never once spoken the magical three words. Such a confession ended the relationship when he gave her an ultimatum and she decided that it was best to end it.

For Katelyn "Katie" Grace Holt, nicknamed "Pidge," to have been given such a choice without ever genuinely talking about her feelings on the topic, made her feel as though he didn't care about her as much as he said he did.

After taking a shower and relaxing for a bit, her eyes wandered over to where the open invitation sat on her desk when watching television.

She picked up her pillow, covered her face with it, and screamed.

Pidge needed to find a date for the wedding or else risk looking like a pathetic loser when she went. Just because he was four years her senior and that he had a promising future _and_ that he was a good-looking guy that had gotten away, she _knew_ she would get looks of pity. Not only from him but from the rest of the people, she knew back from when they had been dating. To further add salt to the wound, it would look like she was still pining for him if she showed up single at his wedding. Especially if he had shared their breakup with whoever was willing to listen.

Even if she wasn't and was there for other reasons.

And the only reason she was going at all instead of politely declining was because of some guests that would be invited and actually show up out of obligation. At least, it was an assumption, at any rate.

Ethan had family connections and they were connections that could help fund her research in robotics and computer technology. So like her, others would show up for the same potential. That meant that there was no way she would turn down an opportunity to talk with the heads of the tech field she was absolutely in love with over some ex-boyfriend because of those connections. Even if it was at his freaking wedding.

After another scream into her pillow, her phone rang. She fell backward onto her back and rolled over to bury her face in the sheets. Groping blindly for where her phone was resting on the nightstand, she picked it up and swiped at the screen to answer. "Hello," she greeted, voice muffled by blankets and pillows. "This is Pidge speaking."

"Hey, Pidge!"

She immediately sat upright. "Allura!"

"Did you get one?" she asked. She could hear her frowning without even seeing her.

"Unfortunately." Pidge sighed and brought a pillow to rest against her chest. "Honestly, I don't know if he's bragging and rubbing it in or just genuinely wants me there."

"I'm not sure of his motives and I am quite surprised he even sent me one." Allura made some shuffling noises. "Honestly, after how you two broke up, I assumed our ties would have ended there."

"He probably invited you out of obligation." Pidge rolled her eyes and rolled out of bed. Padding silently over to her desk where the invitation sat, she lifted it to get another look and pressed her lips into a thin line. "I don't think I've ever met the missus that's marrying him though. Her name isn't familiar to me."

**Ethan Thomas & Taylor Adams** **  
** **Cordially invite you to** **  
** **Their wedding celebration**

Definitely not a girl she knew.

"I believe she was in my year," Allura mused. "Since Shiro was in one of my classes at the time, I vaguely recall she was once one of his partners."

"Shiro? Shiro knows her? Is he invited?" Pidge asked in bewilderment.

She chuckled. "No, I don't think so. Shiro said he'd be going into training around that time. He wouldn't be able to make it."

"Oh, right, I forgot about that." Again, Pidge shook her head. "And you? Are you going?"

"No, I'm afraid I won't be able to make it," she sighed. "I have a business venture I need to attend to that requires my utmost attention and it's nowhere near where the wedding is."

"And Hunk is going back to visit his family and Lance will be going part way with Hunk and then go back and visit his family in Cuba. Am I the only one left here?" Pidge whined, wondering who would keep her company while all of her best friends were gone. It didn't help that this was a destination wedding so bringing someone felt obligatory.

"Well, Keith doesn't know either of them. Aside from you, me, and Shiro, I don't think anyone else knows them. From what I recall, Keith is just working, at the moment. And you know, he could use the vacation." There was a teasing tone in her voice that Pidge's brow twitched. Oh, she knew she was teasing her, but still.

"He's back?" She was relieved that her voice sounded normal—not a hiccup and not a single stutter.

"Ah, I believe so—say, why don't you invite him? I think he has some free time."

"Allura, trying to get me and Keith back together isn't—it isn't going to happen," said Pidge, her voice quiet as her gaze drifted to the one memory that sat on her nightstand and absently rubbed at her inner left wrist. A rose-gold ring looped around a thin white-gold chain that twinkled in the dim lighting of her bedroom. She shook her head and dragged her eyes away from the one thing she clung to from a past that felt too long ago. "So it's not—"

"Going to happen?" Allura finished for her, amusement coloring her tone. "You say that as though you aren't still in love with him, Pidge."

"I—" Pidge could lie and say she didn't love him anymore, but some feelings never truly went away. She missed him, above all else. At one time, they had been the best of friends.

"Pidge," Allura softened her voice, "deny it all you like, but after what happened, I won't blame you if you still feel for him as strongly as you did then."

Pidge frowned. She didn't feel anything for Keith anymore, she knew, but she hadn't seen him in over a year since their last get-together before he went away on another tour. Shiro and Matt had to go away for a time too, but they were Active Reserve for the military and remained here with jobs so they wouldn't have to go far for a long time. But Keith—with him, she had no idea. The only thing she heard from Shiro was that he was doing well enough and missed home.

"I don't," Pidge said evenly after a moment. She didn't. He was the one that left her and it wasn't the other way around. She had moved on.

— x —

"So, you're dateless."

Pidge winced and immediately punched Lance, one of her best friends. She was relieved to have the driving distract her from the obvious frustration she could feel emanating from her best friend, but that doesn't mean she still couldn't punch him for stating the obvious.

"Ow! Hey! Watch the road!"

"Lance, I don't know if just stating the obvious will help the situation," her other best friend, Hunk, said with a disappointed shake of his head.

"As if I didn't know that already, _Lance_." Pidge was ready to punch Lance again but said best friend stopped her.

Lance threw up his hands, seemingly exasperated. "Hunk, I was only stating the obvious!"

Opting to ignore him, Hunk rolled his eyes and focused his attention on Pidge. "You know we'd help you in a heartbeat if we could, Pidge, but Lance and I planned this trip to see our families way in advance." He leaned forward in his seat that she could see him from the corner of her eye.

She groaned. "Yeah, I know."

Lance crossed his arms. "So, you're gonna go, dateless and probably be humiliated because you're his ex—Pidge, it's not worth it. And honestly, I like any excuse to have some fun, but this isn't one of those times to 'have a good time' when it's at your ex's wedding." Without even looking, she could see the raise of his brow.

"You know, as much as I'd like to agree with you and say with relief that I'm not gonna go, I will disappoint you and say, 'yes, I'm going.'"

Hunk shook his head in disbelief and he pouted. "I'm jealous you get to meet our hero if all else—I don't blame you for going because he's totally worth it."

Pidge grinned. "I know. It's the only reason it's worth going at all. Don't worry, Hunk, I'll be sure to get you and Matt autographs."

"You mean that one guy you two talk about whenever you get started on those projects of yours?" Lance asked.

"If you don't know his name, I'm kicking you out of the car."

Lance didn't respond for a moment and sulked in his seat for a moment longer.

"Ugh!" Hunk ran his hands through his choppy short hair. "His wedding came at an inconvenient time, but I think it's normal for it to be in June, right?"

Pidge nodded, but there was a heavy tone in the way she spoke. "Generally speaking."

"And he's a regular guy, unlike you animals." Lance sat upright in his seat. "Well, as normal as it can be, anyway." He shrugged. "But who the heck are you going to take with you to the wedding? You seriously _cannot _be thinking of going dateless. Because I swear to god if you—"

"_Lance,_ if I was planning on going to the wedding _dateless,_ I wouldn't have tried to ask either of you to join me." She had totally forgotten about their trips home to see their families for a few weeks. "I'll figure something out—I always do."

Lance sighed heavily. "Alright, but keep us updated because jeezus, this is a drama just waiting to happen and I'm sad I won't be there to witness it."

"Don't worry, it's not much of entertainment," Pidge said dryly.

"We'll be a phone call away," Hunk reassured. "I mean, we're only a few time zones away—just give us a ring if you need us, okay?"

"Yeah, spill the deets as they happen." Lance leaned back into the seat with a smirk. And then Pidge punched him in the arm again. "Ow! Alright, alright, like Hunk said—call us if mister doofus does anything stupid."

Pidge managed a smile. "Thanks."

"Anytime, Pidge." Lance smiled and Hunk nodded.

"What are friends for?" Hunk tapped her shoulder and she had to glance in the rearview mirror to show her gratitude.

Still, that didn't answer her question on the biggest one she's had to date: who was going to be her date to this wedding?

— x —

The next couple of days go by and Pidge was still trying to figure out who was she going to ask to go with her to the wedding. She needed someone who she was close enough to that could be her pretend boyfriend while her ex-boyfriend married a woman that obviously made him happier than she ever could. So far, no one came even close. Even if her two best friends, Lance and Hunk, had offered to play the part, but when she had told them the date of the wedding, they immediately exploded into giving her hugs. (Which felt more like pity hugs than anything else.)

Still, it was Saturday and she was expecting to see Allura for lunch today to brainstorm. Heading inside, she sat at the bar and nursed a small drink while waiting for her. Unable to wait and do nothing, she pulled out her tablet from her bag and began to pull up one of the articles she had been reading on nanotechnology.

It was about a good ten minutes of reading before someone interrupted her.

"Pidge?"

She stilled.

The voice she hadn't heard in over a year and yet, she _knew._ Slowly, she lifted from her tablet to see the familiar black boots, faded grey skinnies with a red t-shirt and a leather jacket with a grey hood and the incredulous expression of her very first ex-boyfriend. He blinked, watching her and tilted his head.

Her lips parted as she drank him in and it wasn't because she had missed him, no, but because she found—with a silent curse—that she was still just as attracted to him as she had been then.

His hair was short, cropped, and had just started growing in that it was still messy mop of hair on the top of his head. He had lost all of his baby fat and in its place, was all the muscle he had gained from his time training and working. And dear god, he was just as hot as he was in high school, if not more since then. She knew he preferred his longer hair and her fingers had once been very accustomed to those locks. And then his lips curled in that familiar smirk and she wondered if she had truly moved on when her heart skipped…

Even after all this time.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" he asked, even though she knew it was a rhetorical question of friendly mannerisms and habits. "Still haven't changed, have you?"

He was still the same too, but there was something different in the way he carried himself that made him feel older, wiser, and unlike from what they had been five years ago.

Locking her tablet and closing the protective case around it with a dull snap, she raised a brow and was relieved that she didn't sound like an idiot when she spoke. "It's nice to see you haven't changed, except for that haircut of yours," she said with a matching smirk.

He ran a hand through his hair and tugged at a few of his strands, peering up at it before dropping the hair and his arms back down to his sides and into his pockets. "Yeah, well, cutting it off for work was a necessary evil." He shrugged as he walked over and took the bar seat next to her. Leaning his elbows on the counter, he waved down the bartender. Flashing his ID briefly upon request, he ordered his drink while he crossed his arms to rest on the bar and lifted a brow. "I didn't know you came to this restaurant very often."

Pidge rotated back to face forward, where half of her drink had already been depleted.

"I don't, but Allura said she'd—_oh hell._" She whipped out her phone and checked her text messages. Swiping at her screen, she groaned at the unread text message that was sent ten minutes ago and when she had arrived at the restaurant.

"Not coming?"

**Allura Alves (1:34 PM)** :  
I'm so sorry, Pidge! I'm afraid I won't  
be able to make lunch! ;; Work is very  
hectic at the moment and I needed to  
go in. ;;;;

**Allura Alves (1:45 PM)** :  
Say we have dinner instead? I should  
be done by then. It'll be on me!

Pidge groaned again and dropped her face into her hands after she had set down her phone on the counter. "Yep, not coming—she had work come up."

Keith took a sip from the drink that was set down seconds later. There was a long silence that stretched out between them before he finally spoke. "You wanna have lunch?"

Jolting upright, she turned to him in surprise. "Come again?"

"We can have lunch together," he said with a shrug, taking another slow and leisurely drink that had his elbows on the bar top.

She dropped her hands to her lap. "And why—"

"Cause your whole afternoon just opened up, right?" Keith shrugged again. "And maybe it'd be nice if we talk over lunch and catch up some." His gaze flicked over to her while the drink hovered within inches of his mouth.

Looking away, her eyes drifted down to where she had placed her phone. She supposed that much was true. After all, Allura wouldn't be free for another few hours and it's been a long time since she had even talked to Keith, alone. She had no idea what was even new with him anymore and what he was doing. It's funny to think about how far they've come in all the years they've known each other and they're as distant from one another as old friends could go.

She missed her best friend.

"Sure, why not."

He grinned and stood, taking his drink with him. "Alright, let's go get a table and eat—I'm starved."

She snickered. "You still eat a lot, don't you?"

"I eat a normal amount as any normal person does," he remarked as they headed to the hostess. Following them, he continued. "And besides, I kinda have to with how much I burn off when I go running."

"Running is cardio—not muscle so you don't need _that _much food."

"The heart is a muscle so I need food."

"Do you still run twenty miles?"

"Sometimes."

"What are you, a bionic man?"

By then, they've sat down and were handed their menus. After the hostess had left them to peruse, Keith spoke again. There was a confident flick of his eyes in her direction before focusing on the menu.

"Maybe, but it's not any different from you who stayed up for nearly thirty-six hours straight."

"Oh, come on! I had the last word! Let me live!" Pidge threw her arms up in exasperation.

He laughed.

Warmth bloomed in her chest and she couldn't help but smile at the familiar sound. It had been a long time since she had heard him laugh that it both comforted her and reminded her of times long past. How long had it been since they've sat down together to eat and just talk?

Their server came by, introduced themselves, and promptly took their drink orders while they were left to ponder their lunch choices.

After quickly deciding on an easy grilled chicken salad, she peeked over her menu to see Keith sitting comfortably in his chair. He leaned back with his arms crossed, one hand on his chin in thought while he looked over the menu. Even though his hair was just growing in, some of it was already beginning to cover his eyes.

The very image reminded her of a much smaller Keith with dripping hair and a glare shot her way.

"Remember when we used to argue all the time when we were kids?" she said, still feeling comfort from the familiar laugh. She set the menu down on her plate and she watched him, feeling warmed by the nostalgia. "You kept skipping rocks into the lake near us and wouldn't stop taking all the good skipping rocks."

"Not my fault you were too slow to get them," Keith said with a nonchalance that only made her stomach flutter.

"And not my fault you fell in whenever I was nearby." She smirked, her eyes lidded when he shot her a glare. Score one for Pidge—Keith, zero.

His gaze softened. "But we always were friends even after all that arguing."

"Even as kids, yeah."

"It seems so long ago."

Pidge's lips curved in the corners. "But we went everywhere."

Keith nodded with his own smile and his gaze dropped to his hands. "Everywhere our minds could reach."

She looked him over once more, the differences between the small rambunctious boy she had met to becoming a young man he was now was so starkly different that she couldn't help but reminisce of when it was just the two of them.

— x —

She was five when she moved into the neighborhood. It was a memorable day since she had been going somewhere entirely new and although she had her older brother to watch over her, still, she was wary of the people in the new area. Pidge, Katie at the current age, was too perceptive of people and often stayed away from any interaction.

Until she was forced outside and her parents were unloading from the truck and shooed both of them away. A little bored out of their minds, Matt had the bright idea then to go introduce themselves to their closest neighbors hoping that there would be kids living next door to them. After sneaking into the kitchen to grab the Tupperware full of cookies, they headed to the house next door and she peered up from behind her brother as he knocked.

An older boy opened the door seconds later. "Hi, can—er, may we help you?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Hello," Matt greeted with a wide grin. "I'm Matt and this is Katie. We're your new neighbors that's just moving in over at the old green farmhouse. Thought we should say hi."

Katie clung to her brother's pants, looking apprehensively at the older boy. But he smiled and she knew that he was as nice as her brother was. He crouched to her level.

"Hi, I'm Takeshi, but everyone calls me Shiro," he said with that same kind smile. "You're Katie, right?"

She meekly nodded from behind her safe hiding place behind her brother's legs.

He straightened. "Nice to meet you, Matt, Katie. Our parents should be back soon and they were going to take us to see you later today when you guys had settled in a bit—"

A loud clatter and a resounding bang came from the ceiling. Immediately, panic and concern were on both of the older boys' faces and they bolted inside. Katie watched them move at a speed that she'd only see her brother move for food. Matt kicked off his shoes and set down the cookies and disappeared after Shiro.

Peering around the entryway, she stepped inside and slowly took off her own. Padding quietly through the front of the house, she glanced around to notice how warm and comfortable it was. On her right was a living room that connected with a dining room and flowed right into a large kitchen. And on her left was a door to the bathroom and what she could figure led out to the garage.

Heading up the stairs, she heard voices coming from down the hall and made her way over, peeking into a boy's bedroom that was filled with posters of forests, waterfalls, and the various galaxy systems that had planes hanging from the ceiling. Models of planes lined the bookshelves and walls with an assortment of books that ranged in sizes. The room must've been recently cleaned or something because there were scarcely any clothes on the floor where a boy—who was definitely older than her—sat.

Almost as if he knew she was there, he turned his head and faced her. When it dawned on him who it was that was standing in the doorway of his room, his pout soured into a scowl. "What's a girl doing here?"

"And what's a suckerface like _you_ doing here?" Katie retorted.__

He glowered. "I live here!"

"Hey, Keith, that's your new neighbor," Shiro scolded, his lips pulled into a tight line. "Be nice."

"Why do I have to be—"

"Hey, that's my little sister," Matt warned with a raised brow, sitting on the floor next to him. Sitting next to Keith, they looked about the same age and size, and yet, Matt carries himself more like Shiro. "We're your neighbors so we're gonna be friends, okay?" Matt gave Katie a pointed look, turned his head and held out a hand to Keith. "Katie, meet your other neighbor, Keith."

Tentatively, she stepped into the room and came to stand behind Matt.

"Katie, Keith—Keith, Katie," Matt introduced.

Keith eyed her warily while Katie lifted a brow. For a boy who was both bigger and older than her, he acted more like the kids her age than anything like her brother. But then, her parents had often told them they weren't like other kids.

"You're just like everyone else, aren't you?" she stated bluntly.

"And what have I done to you?" Keith retorted.

"Oh, so you were smart enough to get that, were you?" A lidded smirk too old to be on the face of a five-year-old made its appearance and Matt shook his head.

"Katie, be nice," Matt warned.

"At least, I'm not a prissy girl wearing her prissy dresses," Keith snapped, crossing his arms.

Both of the older brothers sighed simultaneously just as Katie opened her mouth to snap back.

That was how their relationship began.

When Katie was over or Keith was paying a visit with Shiro, they'd be bickering over something that was of utmost importance to them. Kids being mean to one another was a typical thing, especially when Katie's and Keith's competitive streak kicked in. Skipping rocks, running, video games, and whatever else someone can think of, they competed in. And whatever they could be arguing about often ranged from their toys to the fact that the sun could never be in the same sky as the moon. The sun and moon argument was more often a frequent topic since they had both aspirations for flying into space.

But that was the first thing that started their bond with one another and Pidge's turning point in her relationship with Keith changed a few months later.

"Don't you think the moon is beautiful?"

Keith was fiddling with the beginner's kit for a telescope. Matt and Shiro were talking to their parents while Matt had left it to them to figure out the telescope in the late hours of the evening. It was a camping trip that both the Shirogane and Holt family had decided would be the perfect time to view the Milky Way.

"There's no moon out," Keith said with certainty and not bothering to look up from his work.

Pidge pouted, snapping her gaze to the other with a scowl. "No, stupid, of course, it isn't out _now_ _,_ but I was just saying."

Keith paused and leaned back to cross his arms. He quirked a brow. "Then why are you bringing this up now?" he asked impatiently.

Pidge turned her gaze back to the night sky where it was decorated with scattered stars. Leaning back on her hands, she spoke with wistfulness. "I mean, it's the first thing we landed on and it affects Earth because of its gravitational pull."

"What language are you speaking?" He rolled his eyes and went back to fiddling with the telescope.

She pointedly turned her head to glare at him.

Unaware of her glare, he shrugged. "But, I agree, the moon is nice to look at, but I like the stars."

Pidge tilted her head, looking back to the starry sky. "But then, don't you think the moon is lonely?"

He stilled. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, there's so few of the stars that show up when the moon is around. Because it's so bright, we really don't see nearly as many stars as we do without the moon. So don't you think it's lonely that it doesn't have a lot of friends?"

At that, there was only silence. When he said nothing, Pidge, growing impatient with not having her question answered, turned to open her mouth with an insult. Only, the insult never left. Instead, what greeted her was a distant expression that looked out into the distance and at the sky above them. She wouldn't know it then, but presently, she'd recognize the look on his face as "grief" and "loneliness," the very thing she had called the moon.

After that, she lessened her insults and their arguments began to fade. There was a semblance of an understanding that formed between the two of them. It was a silent one and Pidge understood that it was a "pity" when she grew older. At least, it was for a time. She didn't know why Keith made that expression and to this day, still didn't know what it was.

But, for two solid years, they were inseparable.

— x —

"Okay, this place is pretty good—I could see why Allura wanted to come here for lunch," Pidge admitted once she had swallowed the last bite of her lunch.

Keith nodded. "Shiro recommended this place to me when I got back a few weeks ago and since then, I've been sorta hooked."

Pidge paused, setting down her fork and guilt crept its way into her chest. Ugh, how long was it that she had last talked to Keith? Like, sit down and talk to each other without looking at each other in guilt? Without the feelings of bitter memories clouding their vision from properly talking to each other?

"How have you been? You know, since you got back?" Pidge asked, lifting her gaze from the plate to observe the subtle nuances of Keith's expressions.

He sighed, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. "Yeah, okay as I could be."

His expression shuttered and she knew he was shutting down. If she recalled what Matt had said in recent days, Keith was working in a garage part-time. But, he didn't completely shut her out. Keith wasn't totally cutting her off as he had before.

Pidge inwardly winced at the memory from high school.

Keith interlinked his fingers with a raised brow. "I mean, I'm still working two jobs, though I don't have to." He lifted a hand, counting it off as he recounted the number of things that changed since he had last seen her. "I got promotions while I was in the military, got a motorcycle, got a dog, and got my own place—"

"Wait, wait," Pidge held up a hand to stop him and lifted a brow, "you got a dog?"

He made one of those smiles that made her insides turn to mush. "Yeah, I think you'd like him."

Pidge's eyes gleamed. "I'd definitely love to meet him!"

Just then, the waiter came back around and cleaned up their dishes and asked if they wanted anything else. When they politely shook their head, Pidge heard the terribly familiar laughter of the boy she had dated once before. Her skin tingles and her hair stood on its end and she had to close her eyes to brace herself for the slew of words that came next.

"That's terrible—she's not like that!"

Oh, it's _his_ voice too.

"Pidge?" Keith's voice was quiet, but without even looking, she knew there was a look of concern that he always had for her whenever she went silent.

"Well, I don't know why you invited her," a different voice said.

Damn, they were a table behind them. That means they hadn't either seen or noticed her. Her grip on her napkin tightened.

"I wanted to show her I had no hard feelings," the first voice said sullenly. "We were over for more than a year now and we had at least ended on a good note."

"Ethan, you thought she was the one," a third voice remarked, sounding a little frustrated.

Pidge didn't dare look up at Keith.

"Pidge Holt isn't the girl you thought she was and you invited her to your wedding for what reason? To gloat? To see if she's as pitiful as you thought she was? To show her that you've moved on with someone else?"

There was a sharp intake of breath.

"Keith, leave it be," Pidge whispered. She did not want a confrontation so soon. Heck, her heart didn't feel ready and she was trying to swallow past the lump of heat in her chest. What the heck is wrong with these people to be talking about her?

There was a heavy exhale and Pidge looked up to see the narrowed gaze and the clenched jaw. Even his hands gripped the armrest of the chair as he attempted to restrain himself from lashing out in defense. He was protective, Pidge recollected, and this applies to everyone in their little group of friends. To think that Keith still had that much anger for her gave her flutters in the stomach.

But she couldn't ignore or even forget when he left her.

"I'd be lying if I said that wasn't the case," Ethan said and her urge to snap a retort was begrudgingly swallowed. There was pettiness in those words that Pidge didn't have the heart to point out, especially since she's already moved on. "But I want to see where she's at now and maybe if I see how she's still single or not would make me realize that I've made the right choice."

Pidge's own fist tightened around the napkin on her lap until her knuckles turned white.

"Why the _fuck_ are they talking about you like this?" Keith whispered, his eyes sharp and his hand fisted.

"He liked me more than I liked him," Pidge said with a helpless shrug. "I guess he didn't like the way we broke up."

"Dude, your fiancée is way hotter than Pidge will ever be," his friend said with a snicker. The voice sounded like Dylan Anderson, Ethan's best friend and she could only assume to be Ethan's best man. She remembered meeting him on more than one occasion. He _was_ a nice guy—a little arrogant maybe, but generally pretty nice. "Don't get me wrong," he amended when Pidge could only assume Ethan shot him a look, "she's hot in her own right. And she's definitely smarter than your fiancée would ever be."

At that, she couldn't help the twitch of a smile. Lifting her gaze, Keith was still angrily glaring at the plate in front of him. She was surprised by his control over his temper, something that he had a hard time dealing with when they were younger that got them into trouble on more than one occasion.

"Keith, it's okay," she murmured. It was an attempt to soothe his anger, but he shot her a glare.

"No, it's not," he said through gritted teeth.

Her skin warmed at his defensiveness on her behalf.

"They're talking loud enough that I'm pretty sure everyone in this entire restaurant can hear them."

Looking around them, she could see the other patrons were frowning at the table behind them. But it was only the tables closest to them. An elderly couple sat at one and a man by himself in a business suit frowned while sipping his coffee.

"We're not saying she isn't," the third voice said, sounding bored with the conversation after a moment. "What did you see in Pidge, anyway? She wasn't exactly always there."

"She—"

Pidge braced herself.

"—cared. Even though we were busy with work and our projects, she always attempted to try. She compromised when I know she didn't have to, but she did it anyway. She listened, she was considerate, and she wanted what was best for me." Ethan sounded wistful.

Keith flinched.

"Are you still in love with her?" Dylan's voice quieted that it wasn't as obnoxious as it had been for the last several minutes.

"In a way, yeah. Well, I missed what I thought we had rather than still like her."

"But she made you miserable," the third voice interrupted, sounding mildly annoyed. "You kept hoping that she would show you any sign of marriage, but she said no. Eventually, you started drifting apart because she would make you feel like shit—like you weren't the future she wanted. We all know this story."

This time, Pidge flinched. Keith arched a brow and then quickly narrowed until they became slits. Oh, she hadn't seen Keith that angry in a _long_ time.

"Didn't you start seeing Taylor while you were seeing her?"

It was though she was dumped a bucket of ice-cold water over her and she suddenly couldn't breathe. Here she thought that their relationship had ended on amicable terms, but he had been with this girl even while he was in a relationship with her? Suddenly, all she wanted to do was run or scream, or hell, maybe even do something irrationally stupid like punching him in the face.

"Nope, that's it."

"Keith?" Startled, she looked up to see Keith push back from the table and stood. She glanced down at the check to find it paid for in cash and quickly rose to stand. Dropping the napkin down at the table, she took a step to follow after Keith.

"Pidge?"

Both of them stopped, but Keith reacted first by coming to her side while she turned in her place.

Ethan looked bewildered. His friends' faces all dropped, realizing that she had heard what they were talking about. They exchanged guilty glances and had the decency to look ashamed.

It's as though that was all she needed for the anger to finally come burning through her stomach, into her chest.

"Hello, Ethan," she greeted with a smile plastered to her face. Normally, she would've been able to greet him like an old friend—easy, considerate, and not so forced, but after hearing what they said, it's impossible to remain civil.

Ethan looked pale. "How-How are you doing?"

Good, he was sweating, as he should.

"Pretty well—thank you for the wedding invitation. I'm looking forward to meeting Taylor." Pidge had the urge to slap him.

"O-Oh? I-I'm glad," he said, his Adam's apple quickly bobbing up and down. But his resolve to talk to her strengthened when he noticed Keith behind her. "Is that—"

Oh, she knew that look. It was familiar anger, one born from Ethan siding with her over how Keith and her had broken up. At the time, Pidge had moved on from the painful loss and was only retelling a story to share why it might be difficult for her to love Ethan like she did Keith.

But this time, it had the addition of something spiteful—jealous even that Pidge tried her best stave the urge to slap him.

Ethan had no right.

"—Keith," she finished for him. Pidge took a step to stand beside him, sliding her hand down to Keith's, prying apart his fist to interlink her hand with his.

Her heart, traitorously, skipped a beat at the intimate gesture, something she hadn't done with Keith in _years_.

"And he's your—"

"My plus one to your wedding," Pidge cut in, smiling with every ounce of acting with sincerity she could muster.

Dylan coughed into his drink, choking. The third one, the one that had dropped the bomb about a past that Pidge would rather not think about in a public setting, was pale. Mason was someone that Pidge would've considered hard to approach and _generally_, the more pragmatic one of the group. But today, he decided that today was the day to be stupid.

"Oh, that's, um, nice," he said, managing to smile. "It's nice to see you've, uh, gotten back together with your ex."

Pidge didn't want to think about the tone in which his voice dropped into and instead, focused on the fact that Keith's hand was wrapped around hers. Like a rock in the middle of the storm, Pidge held on. She felt so sick, felt so heated with anger that if his hand isn't holding her back, she would've done something incredibly stupid.

"Yep, so see you at the wedding and thanks for the invite," Keith said curtly, tugging on Pidge's hand.

They left the groom and his friends with dumbfounded expressions and a brief sense of triumph.

Unfortunately, the feeling didn't last long.

How was Pidge supposed to handle going to a wedding where the groom was not only her ex, but that he supposedly cheated on her?


End file.
